What is the difference between a Campaign and an Ad Group in Apple Search Ads?

A Campaign holds the daily budget, country (storefront), and start/end dates. An Ad Group holds the keywords, ads, audience refinements, default bid, and Custom Product Page assignment. One campaign can have many ad groups, but one ad group belongs to exactly one campaign.

How many ad groups should I have per campaign?

A typical structure is 3-8 ad groups per campaign: Brand, Category, Competitor, Discovery, and 2-4 intent-cluster Exact-match groups. More than 10 ad groups in a campaign usually signals over-splitting and dilutes data per group.

Should I split ad groups by Custom Product Page?

Yes. Custom Product Pages are assigned at the ad group level, so if you want different keyword clusters pointing at different CPPs, they must live in different ad groups. This is the single biggest reason to split ad groups beyond match type.

What is an Ad Group in Apple Search Ads?

What is an Ad Group?

An Ad Group is the container inside an Apple Search Ads campaign that holds:

Keywords (Exact, Broad, and Negative)
Ads (the default product page OR an assigned Custom Product Page)
Audience refinements (gender, age range, device class, customer type)
Default bid (maximum CPT)
Search Match toggle (on or off per ad group)
Day-parting schedule (optional)

Ad groups are where the bulk of operational decisions get made. Campaigns are mostly budget envelopes; ad groups are where targeting strategy lives.

The Campaign → Ad Group → Keyword hierarchy

Account
└── Campaign (one app + one storefront/country)
    └── Ad Group (one match type strategy + one CPP)
        └── Keyword (Exact, Broad, or Negative)

A single app/storefront combination typically has 5-15 ad groups spread across 1-3 campaigns. Most modern accounts use one campaign per storefront with multiple ad groups inside.

How to structure ad groups

The conventional structure for a single campaign:

Ad group	Match type	Keywords	Bid level	CPP
Brand	Exact	Your app name + variants	Low (high CR justifies any bid)	Default or branded CPP
Brand defense	Exact	Competitor names where you want to conquest	Medium	Conquest CPP
Category	Exact	Proven non-brand winners	Medium	Category-themed CPP
Discovery	Broad + Search Match	Wider net for keyword exploration	Lower	Default
Intent cluster A	Exact	Promoted Discovery winners for use-case A	Medium	CPP for use-case A
Intent cluster B	Exact	Promoted Discovery winners for use-case B	Medium	CPP for use-case B

Match type per ad group

A best practice: one match type strategy per ad group. Do not mix Exact and Broad in the same ad group. Reasons:

Match type defines reach and bid behavior — mixing them obscures performance attribution
Reporting clarity: per-ad-group metrics are interpretable when match type is uniform
Search Match interacts with Broad — if Search Match is on and Broad is also active, you cannot tell which produced a given tap

Common failure modes

One mega ad group. All keywords lumped together — impossible to debug, every metric is an average of everything.
Same keyword in multiple ad groups. Internal auction competition raises CPT for both groups; data gets split.
Default product page everywhere. Missing the CPP-per-cluster opportunity. CR stays at category baseline.
Search Match enabled on Brand ad groups. Algorithm matches your brand campaign to irrelevant queries — typically 15-35% of unexplained spend in poorly-structured accounts.

How ASAPilot helps

ASAPilot’s account audit reviews ad group structure and surfaces:

Mega ad groups (>50 keywords with mixed match types)
Keyword duplication across ad groups (internal competition)
Default-product-page assignment on high-spend ad groups (CR opportunity)
Search Match enabled on Brand or Category ad groups (waste risk)

See audit guide and pricing.

Keyword Match Type — what each ad group is bidding on
Custom Product Page — the creative target per ad group
Discovery Campaign — the campaign type ad groups live in